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Otago Daily Times, Issue 13288, 20 May 1905, Page 7

; THE SHOPS AND OFFICES ACT. Undoubtedly ono of t!ie first duties that Parliament will have to pel form in the | session that is now close at hand will be the consideration of a measme for the amendment of the Shops and Olhces Act. The law that was passed last session is being oponly defied throughout the colony, and the Government, which lias not the courage to enforce it, has undertaken that the earliest opportunity i olFered in the session will bo seized for : reopening in Parliament the questions of the provisions aud scope of the Act. As it will certainly tend to promote an . intelligent discussion upon the points , that are chiefly the subject of con- : troversy if suggestions for the amend- , ment of the law aro brought forward iu anticipation of the meeting of the Parliament, the retail section of the Otago Employers' Association has rendered a service to the community by intimating already/ the proposals which, in its opinion, should bo adopted in order to make the Act a really workable and satisfactory measure. The amendments, as thus suggested, will in most respects, we believe, commend themselves to the , public mind as being of a reasonable character. But some of them will necessarily excite keen contention. The proposal of the Association with respect to the section of the Act which is at present being flouted by shopkeepers, that provides for early closing in combined districts, is exceeaingly sweeping, and will inevitably arouse strong opposition. It is practically to make the operation of the early closing provision operative throughout the colony with Hie exception that it shall not apply to businesses which are generally regarded as entitled to some special consideration— namely, those of a fishmonger, refresh-ment-room keeper, fruiterer, confectioner, baker, hairdresser, tobacconist, chemist, or bookstall keeper on a railway station and wharf. Subject to the exemption of the businesses thus enumerated, the early closing clause would consequently, if the proposal of the Employers' Association wcie adopted, apply throughout the whole colony, and it would also be general in it* s application to the trades not covered by the exception, Tho shops in every country township would, in these circumstances, be required to observe the s.une hours of closing as are regarded as desirnblo in the urban districts, and the "one man" shop, as it has been called, which is frequently a " one woman " shop, would be deprived of the privilege which the existing law, if it were enforced, would confer upon it. Such a provision as the Employers' Association has suggested would actually be more radical than that contained in the notorious clause 3 of the Act as originally passed last session by the Upper House on the motion of the Attorney-general. The only exceptions for which that clause provided were exceptions in favour of shops managed single-handed by the occupier and of refreshment-rooms: it was a clause that was desigued to operate, as is now proposed by the Employers' Association, throughout the entire colony, in town and country alike. And as Mr Seddon was prepared in the Lower House to accept the clause which the Legislative Council had inserted iu the Bill, and as he has since implied that he regard* the exception in favour of the small shops as Due of the blemishes of the law, it may be assumed that the amendment suggested by the Employers' Association will not be viewed altogether unfavourably by the Government. But it may be taken for granted that the proposal that shopkeepers in small country towns should be required to observe the same boms of closing as are provided for in towns will be stoutly resisted, and we question whether the existence of the shops that aro conducted by the occupier without any hired assistance whatever ifivolves such serious competition witk the largely-manned establishments, in the interests of which the abolition of the exemption in favour of the " oneman" premises is proposed, as to make the application to them to the eaily closing provision at all necessary. It cntinot b'e doubted that if these small shops, which depend upon a merely casual trade for their takings, art placed by law. on the same footing with the extensive businesses of the aristocrats of the various trades, the effeot will Surely be to blot the majority of them completely out of being. The proposal of tho Employers' Association relative to the hours of closing ■ that shall be ' observed by shopkeepers aims at the amendment of the existing law only in j the respect of providing that 10 p.m., '

instead of 9 p.m., shalL-be the closing hour on the late shopping night in each week. The Association desires further that the legislation 'concerning the weekly half-holiday shall be so framed ■as to limit the choice of the general half-holiday to two days—a Wednesday and' a Saturday, at the option of the shopkeeper;—and it also seeks that provision-may bo made whereby—whatover day may be chosen for the halfholiday of the trades that, in the event of Saturday being appointed f the statutory closing day, are afforded the right of choosing some other day—all the members of eaeli trade'affected shall be required to observe the half-holiday on the same afternoon. ' It may perhaps be regarded as a somewhat significant thing that the Association is agreeable to Saturday being made one of the alternative days for the general weekly halfholiday, and it is possible that tho traders as a class are becoming more reconciled to the idea of a Saturday half-holiday. After all, tho retail shopkeepers may reasonably claim to occupy tho most favourable position for estimating the probable results of the introduction of a system that will necessitate a great_change in the habits of the community; aud if it were the deliberate opinion of the Association that, subject to exceptions in favour of specified trades, the Saturday half-holiday might conveniently be made general it cannot be pretended that public opinion in the mass would not thereby be greatly influenced. The Association is, we judge, not yet prepared \o go the length of admitting that the institution of a Saturday half-holiday is warranted by the conditions of trade. The proposal that the provisions of the Shops and Offices Act should not apply to conditions that have been the subject of regulation by the Arbitration Court should bo generally accepted as sound, but the exception which is taken to the provision of the law that requires that shop assistants shall be paid for overtime cannot be quite so legitimately defended. The Association takes the ground that if it is right and proper that extra wages should be paid for overtime it is neither light nor proper nor is it equitable that wages should be paid for work that is not performed. Put in its naked colours, the argument is that because no deduction is made from wages in respect of the statutory holidays no overtime should bo I paid in respect of the extra hours that are devoted by assistants to stock-taking and other special work. Tho syllogism is scarcely a true one. The time that is spent in stock-taking is not a quid pro quo for that spent in enjoyment on holidays. Thero is no relation of any kind between the one and the other, fhe statutory holidays are paid for simply because it has become customary to pay for them, ami tho principle that no deduction of wages shall be made in respect of them is b'eing so gradually extended, under the operation of awards of the Arbitration Court and otherwise, that it is only n matter of tirao before it will become general, except in the l of casual labour. It is hardly | possible, therefore, to attempt to set off the payments for these special occasions against the work that is done after closing hours in shops. Wo may 1 egret, with the Employers' Association, the tendency there is, when transactions between employer and employed are placed in increasing number upon a I commercial basis, to interfere with the ' existence of the harmonious relations that should obtain between persons engaged, botli as principals and as subordinates, in the conduct of a busi-\ ness. But the pievalcnco of such a tendency seems to be one of the unavoidable effects of attempts, however well meant, to bring legislative action to bear upon the management of private concerns. I